ALALAM – Syria

UNICEF said in a press release on Sunday that the 500,000 children are trapped in areas almost completely cut off from sustained humanitarian aid and basic services, some for nearly two years.

The agency also said that 100,000 children are living under siege in militant-held eastern part of Aleppo city alone.

“For millions of human beings in Syria, life has become an endless nightmare - in particular for the hundreds of thousands of children living under siege,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.

He further highlighted the dire situation in which children are holed up, saying they “are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine. This is no way to live – and too many are dying.”

UNICEF further called for lifting the siege in Syria to allow unconditional humanitarian access.

The situation in Aleppo is of particular concern as the city remains divided between government forces in the west and terrorists in the east.

Last week, at least eight children lost their lives in a militant attack on a school in western Aleppo.

The Syrian army has set up several humanitarian corridors for people to quit Aleppo. However, terrorists are said to be preventing civilians from leaving the city in a bid to use them as human shields.

Locals say they are scared to use the exit routes for fear of militant snipers as well as mines and bombs planted by Takfiri elements.

The militants have been taking deal heavy blows over the past few months amid advances made by the Syrian army forces and their allies on the ground with the support of Russia’s aerial campaign in the Middle Eastern country, Press TV reported.

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